TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 8. Uzbekistan
plans to introduce Islamic finance criteria and procedures in at
least three commercial banks by 2030, Trend reports.
The initiative is detailed in the draft of the updated
Uzbekistan-2030 Strategy, which has been made available for public
consultation.
According to the document, the government plans to establish a
comprehensive legal framework for Islamic finance and gradually
introduce Sharia-compliant financial products into the national
banking system.
As outlined in the roadmap, Islamic finance products are
expected to be introduced in at least one commercial bank by 2027.
Between 2029 and 2030, the number of banks offering such products
is anticipated to increase to three. The financing of these
initiatives will be sourced from the commercial banks themselves,
with the Central Bank of Uzbekistan assigned as the coordinating
authority.
Discussions regarding the development of Islamic banking and
finance infrastructure in Uzbekistan have been underway since 2018.
In June 2023, during an international forum in Tashkent, Bahrom
Nomonov, Chairman of Apex Bank, highlighted that approximately 20%
of Uzbekistan’s population avoids conventional lending products for
religious reasons, underscoring a significant untapped demand for
Islamic financial services.
Islamic banking constitutes a financial paradigm that operates
in strict compliance with the tenets of Sharia jurisprudence. It
underscores the principles of equitable profit and loss
distribution, integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in
fiscal transactions.
